It wasn't just the venting though, but the noise. This new fan moves about 10 times as much air as the old one when it's set on low (has 3 speeds). Even on high I'd say it's about 80% quieter than the stock fan.

Agreed. We are very happy with the mod. This is a serious fan (squirrel cage design) not just for cooking, but for users that might be looking for a trailer ventilator too. Obviously for many the MaxxFan is plenty, but others (without A/C?) might be looking to move more air at a decent noise level. We started with a rare fully recirculating range hood (read: useless noisemaker) that ETI used for just a short while, so this mod was a no-brainer! The two level LED is a bonus. The lower level is a perfect nightlight. Love the indoor slide damper and high quality exterior vent too.

I also completed the mod to replace the stock noise maker with the SAM upgrade. I also wanted to eliminate the gap between the fan housing and the side of the trailer due to the curve of the trailer wall. I made a plywood filler piece to fill this gap. Maybe the newer trailers with the straight sides won't have this issue. New fan is much quieter, way more powerful and a better light.

I also completed the mod to replace the stock noise maker with the SAM upgrade. I also wanted to eliminate the gap between the fan housing and the side of the trailer due to the curve of the trailer wall. I made a plywood filler piece to fill this gap. Maybe the newer trailers with the straight sides won't have this issue. New fan is much quieter, way more powerful and a better light.

Looks good Chris. Since I also changed out the stock exterior vent cover with the one that came with the kit, I needed to take a Dremel to the exhaust piece and trimmed maybe 1/2" off. Then I used a piece of closed cell foam as a "gasket".

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"You can't buy happiness, but you can buy an RV. And that is pretty close."

Mmmmm this design still isn't it.... (even though I haven't seen one yet). On big thing for me is that I don't want my hood sticking out so far from underneath the upper cabinet. Maybe I don't understand this mod .... is the mod for the fan + box + new light that is just re-inserted into the original hood body? There is nothing I like about this hood. I'm tall enough to ram my head into it.

Someone posted pictures from a brochure of a hood of European manufacture (I think). It had rounded sides and front, looked to be about half as thick (vertically) as the one Escape uses and it looked much narrower (horizontally) .;.. ie less protruding out from under the upper shelf base.

Anyone remember seeing what I'm trying to describe? I can't find it but seems like I saw it on this forum 3 - 4 years ago.

I'm thumbs down on the cheezy hood, fan and light that Escape is installing. I'm not down on Escape however... and think they have done a wonderful job. I'm really proud of my trailer but also don't think that their range hood comes up to anywheres near the quality of the rest of the trailer.

Wish I could find the one I saw,
Tom

Sorry if I seem extra grouchy tonight .... I am working on my income tax ....

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Mmmmm this design still isn't it.... (even though I haven't seen one yet). On big thing for me is that I don't want my hood sticking out so far from underneath the upper cabinet. Maybe I don't understand this mod .... is the mod for the fan + box + new light that is just re-inserted into the original hood body? There is nothing I like about this hood. I'm tall enough to ram my head into it.

Someone posted pictures from a brochure of a hood of European manufacture (I think). It had rounded sides and front, looked to be about half as thick (vertically) as the one Escape uses and it looked much narrower (horizontally) .;.. ie less protruding out from under the upper shelf base.

Anyone remember seeing what I'm trying to describe? I can't find it but seems like I saw it on this forum 3 - 4 years ago.

I'm thumbs down on the cheezy hood, fan and light that Escape is installing. I'm not down on Escape however... and think they have done a wonderful job. I'm really proud of my trailer but also don't think that their range hood comes up to anywheres near the quality of the rest of the trailer.

Wish I could find the one I saw,
Tom

Sorry if I seem extra grouchy tonight .... I am working on my income tax ....

Hi Tom I have seen the vent hood in high end RV's and new Airstreams . I don't know how well they work but I do like there looks . Pat

Mmmmm this design still isn't it.... (even though I haven't seen one yet). On big thing for me is that I don't want my hood sticking out so far from underneath the upper cabinet. Maybe I don't understand this mod .... is the mod for the fan + box + new light that is just re-inserted into the original hood body? There is nothing I like about this hood. I'm tall enough to ram my head into it.

Someone posted pictures from a brochure of a hood of European manufacture (I think). It had rounded sides and front, looked to be about half as thick (vertically) as the one Escape uses and it looked much narrower (horizontally) .;.. ie less protruding out from under the upper shelf base.

Anyone remember seeing what I'm trying to describe? I can't find it but seems like I saw it on this forum 3 - 4 years ago.

I'm thumbs down on the cheezy hood, fan and light that Escape is installing. I'm not down on Escape however... and think they have done a wonderful job. I'm really proud of my trailer but also don't think that their range hood comes up to anywheres near the quality of the rest of the trailer.

Wish I could find the one I saw,
Tom

Sorry if I seem extra grouchy tonight .... I am working on my income tax ....

...
Someone posted pictures from a brochure of a hood of European manufacture (I think). It had rounded sides and front, looked to be about half as thick (vertically) as the one Escape uses and it looked much narrower (horizontally) .;.. ie less protruding out from under the upper shelf base.

Anyone remember seeing what I'm trying to describe? I can't find it but seems like I saw it on this forum 3 - 4 years ago.
...

A long discussion was Range Hood, although it was only last year. This unit may be one of the Dometic or Camec units Jim showed in post #50.

Mmmmm this design still isn't it.... (even though I haven't seen one yet). On big thing for me is that I don't want my hood sticking out so far from underneath the upper cabinet. Maybe I don't understand this mod .... is the mod for the fan + box + new light that is just re-inserted into the original hood body? There is nothing I like about this hood. I'm tall enough to ram my head into it.

Someone posted pictures from a brochure of a hood of European manufacture (I think). It had rounded sides and front, looked to be about half as thick (vertically) as the one Escape uses and it looked much narrower (horizontally) .;.. ie less protruding out from under the upper shelf base.

Anyone remember seeing what I'm trying to describe? I can't find it but seems like I saw it on this forum 3 - 4 years ago.

I'm thumbs down on the cheezy hood, fan and light that Escape is installing. I'm not down on Escape however... and think they have done a wonderful job. I'm really proud of my trailer but also don't think that their range hood comes up to anywheres near the quality of the rest of the trailer.

Wish I could find the one I saw,
Tom

Tom, like Brian linked to, I had looked into two different ones. The Camec is out out Australia, and while I sat pondering they decided it was not worth the effort to ship internationally. I tried a few other sources to no avail. The other was a Dometic one, available now in Europe, and was supposed to be available in NA earlier last year, then when I contacted them last summer it was maybe 4th quarter, and now it is no longer mentioned on their site, so must have abandoned it.

I did also look into the one that Airstream sells, but for the cost I determined from reviews that it was not real effective either, though it is much better than the Heng or Ventline offerings, in looks and performance.

As you probably realize, the main reason the hood protrudes as much as it does, is so it is over front burners. The cheap type of hood fan is just about all that is readily available for use in the RV industry, where most mass manufactured components are rather cheap. Most of these components cost very little to buy in bulk, and quality components (sinks, taps, stoves, furnaces, and so on) are on average likely 4-10 times the cost, which really adds up and prices an RV out of many peoples reach. Escape IS slowly converting some of these components to something of better quality, and who knows, one day maybe the range hood will be the same.

Also in your case with the 17 Tom, is that you have a much narrower aisle and the hood fan protrusion is much more pronounced.

For us, a good hood fan is a must, and I too do not like the loud drone of the cheap ineffective ones. After much research and coming up short on a good product to buy, I decided I would just build my own using the SAM-1 as the guts. I bought the SAM-1 kit ages ago in anticipation of going that way. I have abandoned the idea of building a wood one to match the cabinets, as I feel it would look to big and bulky, and decided that maybe I would have a nice clean stainless steel one made to order locally and insert the SAM-1, that is until I got a couple quotes, which were $400 and $550. What I ended up doing was buying a 20" stainless steel Ventline which I feel is a bit better than the Heng and is easier to install the kit in. It actually just arrived yesterday.

Other than a few work projects to do in the next couple months, I have cleared all the other projects I have on the go (and soon will have my shop cleared), and will be diving into my trailer finishing soon here, and put all these components together.

I haven't installed it yet, but I thought I'd post some photos/first impressions of the SAM-1 Range Hood Fan Upgrade kit from Fabulous Operating Products.

The fan is well packaged with cardboard inserts and bubble wrap to keep all components undamaged. (Photo 1)

The components consist of the fan assembly, a metal cover for the new wiring, a new exhaust vent, a closed cell adhesive backed foam gasket, installation and operating instructions, and mounting hardware. (Photo 2)

The next photo is from the left side of the fan assembly. You can see the circuit breaker and the 3 position switch used to control the fan speed. There's also a 2 position switch on the other side (visible in photo 4), to change the LED light from low to high. (Photo 3)

Next is the bottom of the assembly, with the front to the left and the exhaust to the right. You can see the vent gate slide lever, the grease filter, and the enclosed LED light strip. (Photo 4)

The next photo shows the operation of the vent gate slider. No more outside flap to open and close. Simply slide the lever from inside to open or close the vent. The included outside vent is not required if you want to keep the stock one, but I like the look of it so I'm going to swap it out. (Photo 5)

Last is a shot of the bottom of the assembly with the grease filter removed. The filter is secured with tabs and a threaded stainless thumb screw. There's also a micro switch that pops up when the grease filter is not in place, preventing the fan from running. The fan is a ball bearing type squirrel cage fan - not a blade fan. It's heavy and it spins smoothly. It should move a ton of air compared to the weak stock fan, and be much quieter. (Photo 6)

Robert,

Did you remove the stock hood with fan in order to make this mod on a work bench or was it done while the hood remained attached to the underside of the cabinet?